We all know that toddlers are infamous for tantrums and other behavior issues. To encourage listening and cooperation, follow these parenting tips.

Show your love

Make sure your displays of affection for your child outnumber any consequences or punishments. Hugs, kisses and good-natured roughhousing reassure your child of your love. Praise and attention also can motivate your toddler to follow the rules.

Prioritize rules

Rather than overloading your child with rules from the outset — which might frustrate him or her — prioritize those geared toward safety first and gradually add rules over time. Help your toddler follow the rules by childproofing your home and eliminating some temptations.

Prevent tantrums

It’s normal for a toddler to have temper tantrums. To reduce the frequency, duration or intensity of your child’s tantrums:

Know your child’s limits. Your child might misbehave because he or she doesn’t understand or can’t do what you’re asking.

Explain how to follow the rules. Instead of saying, “Stop hitting,” offer suggestions for how to make play go more smoothly, such as “Why don’t you two take turns?”

Take ‘no’ in stride. Don’t overreact when your toddler says no. Instead, calmly repeat your request. You might also try to distract your child or make a game out of good behavior. Your child will be more likely to do what you want if you make an activity fun.

Pick your battles. If you say no to everything, your child is likely to get frustrated. Look for times when it’s OK to say yes.

Offer choices, when possible. Encourage your child’s independence by letting him or her pick out a pair of pajamas or a bedtime story.

Avoid situations that might trigger frustration or tantrums. For example, don’t give your child toys that are too advanced for him or her. Avoid long outings in which your child has to sit still or can’t play — or bring along an activity. Also know that children are more likely to act out when they’re tired, hungry, sick or in an unfamiliar setting.

Stick to the schedule. Keep a daily routine so that your child will know what to expect.

Encourage communication. Remind your child to use words to express his or her feelings. If your child isn’t speaking yet, consider teaching him or her baby sign language to avoid frustration.

That’s a good question…What exactly does a Dapper Snapper do? Or should we say, what does it do, that other belts don’t do?

We all know what a belt does, but a Dapper Snapper isn’t your average, old school belt. It’s a belt (half belt) specifically designed for babies and traveling toddlers. The Dapper Snapper fits on the back of your toddlers pants, shorts, swimsuits or skirts, even if they don’t have belt-loops, and it keeps their pants up, so you don’t have to chase after them and keep adjusting, pulling them back up, practically lifting their little feet off the ground. (Admit it, you’ve done this, we’ve all done this).

Take a look:

Here’s an “ADORABLE” little boy who could really use a Dapper Snapper…

He’s just doing his job, being cute…totally oblivious to the fact that he could be walking around in a stylish Dapper Snapper with his pants in check.

Here’s another picture of the same adorable boy, he’s about to be walking around in his skivvies…

He’s too cute to lose his drawers. Now let’s take a look at what it looks like when a Dapper Snapper is worn…

Join with us and chant “No More Droopy Drawers”! Unless you’re after the extra calories burned from chasing after the little ones, just to catch them to pull their britches up endlessly. I love calorie burning, but seriously, Let them play, let them be free, well….as free as they can be with our eyes on them. Join the Dapper Snapper revolution and say “No More Droopy Drawers”! #NoMoreDroopyDrawers

If you’re joining us and you have yet to get your Dapper Snappers…you can grab one, or ten… Click here!

A pediatrician. A researcher. An author. A children’s bookstore owner. A proponent of analog childhood. A father of three.

Read Aloud 15 MINUTES’ “SpokesDoctor” has many passions, but all of them align around reading aloud.

Dr. Hutton is a pediatrician and clinical research fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In collaboration with an expert team at the Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, his research applies cutting edge tools such as MRI to explore how home reading environment and interventions promoting reading aloud during early childhood help build critical brain networks. He is the author of the “Baby Unplugged” and “Love Baby Healthy” children’s book series, distributed to over 1 million families nationwide, and owner of the award-winning blue manatee children’s bookstore. Each of these is inspired by his experience as a father of three, fueling deep passion for reading aloud and “analog” childhood — the kind with limited screen time and lots of human engagement and free play.

Sometimes, as a parent it’s hard to know if you are doing the right thing, pointing your kids in the right direction, teaching them what they need and giving them the tools to succeed in school and in life. Here’s some articles I researched that might help us all sleep better at night…well, at least ease some of the worry.

As parents we must, must, must keep our sense of humor. If you don’t, it can get pretty ugly. With that in mind, take a moment to have a laugh reading some short, sweet and funny tweets from parents recently posting to Twitter.

A.A. White @YesIAmAmesYes child, I see your hand under the door. No I’m not coming out until I finish this Snickers bar.

Lurk @ Home Mom @LurkAtHomeMomIf anyone needs me, I’ll be frantically doing head counts of my children over and over until all the pools are closed again.

Grace and Champ @GraceandChampSometimes I think my kids listen to me periodically because they know it’ll throw me and they like to keep me on my toes.

My kids aren’t toddlers anymore but I know very well how important a good night’s sleep is, not just for your child but for you as well. I hope these tips help all of you groggy Mom’s and Dad’s out there get a better night of sleep for your child and you…

1. Waking up bright and early: “A reasonable wake-up time for a child is anywhere from 5:30-7 a.m., but some children are up before that time wide awake or their wake up time is too early for mom and dad,” says Jenn Kelner, a Certified Child Sleep Consultant who runs a business called BabyZzz.

Solution: “Room darkening shades to block out morning light, white-noise machines to block out morning street noise, a timed light or child alarm clock that changes color when it’s time to get up, and an earlier bedtime. It’s counter-intuitive, but the earlier a child goes to bed, the later they will sleep in.” Amen. I saw it with my own kids. Now sleep mom and dad!

2.Giving up the nap when they still need it: If your child misses a nap because of older siblings’ activities or for some other reason, it actually becomes HARDER for them to nap. Over time, this overtiredness has a cumulative effect, which may cause the child to refuse to nap altogether.

Solution: “Start an earlier bedtime to help make up that sleep deficit and make it easier to nap,” says Kelner. “Get the child outdoors in the morning for fresh air and exercise, very soothing routine before naptime, and leave the child for 60 minutes to give them the opportunity to fall asleep without stimulation. Once the nap has been re-established, bedtime can be moved a little later.”

3.Difficulties in falling asleep: “Many children have difficultly falling asleep on their own if they are used to being rocked to sleep, or if they have been falling asleep next to their parents,” Kelner says.

Solution: Make sure the bedtime routine gets the child nice and drowsy. Turn off all electronics 60 minutes before bedtime. Leave the room slowly if they need you. For instance: Day 1-3, sit by the child’s bed or crib until they fall asleep. Day 4-6, move the chair to the middle of the room. Day 7-9, move the chair to the doorway. Day 10-12, move the chair outside the doorway.

4. Getting up in the middle of the night: Waking during the night is normal, but it becomes a problem when the child cannot return to sleep unassisted, Kelner says. It’s especially hard if the child calls out for mom and dad and everyone is losing sleep.

Solution: “Have a consistent soothing routine in place to get the child nice and drowsy. Ensure the child is getting enough sleep, as over-tiredness leads to frequent night waking,” says Kelner. “Make sure the child is able to self-soothe, and implement some sleep training/coaching if necessary.”

5.Asking for mom and dad 15 times after “good night”: We all know that kid (or have that kid) who wants one more kiss, one more hug, one more snack, one more AGH! This is a classic tactic that delays bedtime, which makes the child overtired, which then makes it more difficult for the child to fall asleep the next night.

Solution: “During your soothing routine, set a kitchen timer for 15 minutes, and explain that once the timer goes off, it’s time to say a final goodnight,” says Kelner. “Ensure that before the timer goes off, you anticipate what that child may ask for — so get them a drink, take them to the bathroom, and give the child lots of hugs. If the child is still requesting extra attention, start some sleep rules with consequences, or simply ignore their requests.”

6.Inability to self-soothe: Some children have more trouble than others soothing themselves into sleep when they are upset and especially when they wake up in the middle of the night alone.

Solution: “Giving your child a special transitional object, such as a teddy bear or ‘lovie’ to snuggle and go to bed with during the bedtime routine can help them learn to use this object to help themselves get back to sleep when they wake in the middle of the night,” says Jennifer Metter of Jenni June Certified Sleep Consulting in Los Angeles.

7. You are co-sleeping without wanting to: This is me. My kids always end up in bed with us and neither my husband nor I can remember how they got there.

Solution: “Using an uneventful quick and silent return to the bed without payoff can help eliminate this behavior. Sleep consultants call this, ‘The silent return’. Consistency is key here,” says Metter. “It requires a bit of work and perfect consistency from parent for successful results, but uneventfully and silently returning your child to their bed the moment you notice they are out of it will help teach them to remain there until it is time to wake for the day. Children won’t continually do what doesn’t work for them.”